Ice storage system



Oct. 11, 1966 M. H. SIMMONS ICE sToRAGEsYsTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet l FiledJune 14, 1965 INVENTOR. MARSDEN H. SIMMONS mwN ATTORNEYS Oct. 11, 1966M. H. slMMoNs 3,277,666

ICE STORAGE SYSTEM Filed June 14, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Willi-'1M il F iG. 4

INVENTOR.

MARSDEN H. SIM MONS ATTORNEYS United States Patet O 3,277,666 ICESTGRAGE SYSTEM Marsden H. Simmons, W. University St., Siloam Springs,Ark. Filed Jan. 14, 1965, Ser. No. 425,418 3 Claims. (Cl. 62-320) Thisinvention relates to an ice storage system. More particularly, theinvention relates to a system for storing chipped ice and for subsequentusage of the stored ice. Still more particularly, the invention relatesto a method of handling ice as used in processing plants requiring largeamounts of chipped ice including means of storing the ice for subsequentuse during periods when `the rate of usage is greater than theproduction rate of the ice making facilities.

Many types of food processing industries require large amounts ofchipped ice, an example being the poultry processing industry. Aspoultry is processed and made ready for packaging and distribution, theproduct must he kept under iced conditions to maintain sanitation andavoid spoilage. Large quantities of chipped ice are required in poultryprocessing plants and heretofore the production,

storage and delivery for use of chipped ice has been a burdensomeproblem.

One of the problems concerning the usage of ice in processing plants isthat heretofore no successful means of storing for later automaticmechanical delivery of chipped ice has been available. Therefore, theprocessor has been required to provide ice making facilities of acapacity capable of manufacturing the ice required at the rate it isused. This is a diicult problem, that is, it is virtually impossible tosize ice making equipment to exactly meet the continued requirements ofprocessing facilities under varying processing loads and Varyingclimatic conditions. Heretofore, to meet peak requirements, chipped icestored in a bin has been shoveled out by hand.

This invention provides a system whereby ice manufacturing facilitiescan be operated on a more or less continuous basis, and wherein the icemanufactured in excess of that which is required at the time can bestored for later use. While bulk storage for later automatic delivery ofall types of materials, such as grain, has been well known for manyyears, the storage of flaked or chipped ice has never been feasible. Thepressure of chipped ice in a storage vessel tends to cause the ice toweld together, making the subsequent automatic removal `of `the iceimpossible. This invention provides means whereby the previouslyencountered insurmountable problems have been overcome in a systemwhereby chipped ice may be stored for later automatic mechanicaldelivery.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an ice storagesystem.

A more particular object of this invention is to provide an ice storagesystem including means whereby surplus ice making capacity can beutilized for storage of chipped ice for subsequent usage,

Another object of this invention is to provide an upright cylindricalstorage silo including means to receive chipped ice therein land forautomatically delivering chipped ice thereout as required.

Another object of this invention is to provide an ice storage systemincluding means whereby ice may be utilized directly as manufactured orstored for subsequent usage.

These and other objects will be fullled and a better understanding ofthe invention will be had by referring to the following description andclaims, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:

FIGURE l is a schematic illustration of the ice storage system of thisinvention.

serres Patented Get. l1, 1966 lCe FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view ofthe ice storage silo of the system of this invention showing the iceunloading means.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view of a portion of the bottom of the icestorage silo showing the arm member utilized to remove ice from thesilo.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view of a por-tion of the chain utilized onthe arm for removal of ice from the storage silo.

This invention may be described as an ice storage system. Moreparticularly, but not by way of limitation, the invention may bedescribed as an ice making and storage system comprising an ice chipmaking means having a first and a second selectable discharge outlet, anupright cylindrical storage silo adjacent said ice chip making means,said silo having an ice intake opening in the upper end and a centraloutlet opening in the bottom, a storage conveyor extending from said rstdischarge outlet of said -iee chip making means to the ice intakeopening in said storage silo, an unloading means in said storage silo tomove chipped ice stored in said silo to said central outlet opening, ahorizontal discharge conveyor beneath the bottom of said silo forconveying chipped ice from the central outlet opening, a distributionconveyor receiving chipped ice from said horizontal discharge conveyor,the distribution conveyor being simultaneously actuatable independent ofsaid ice making means and said storage conveyor, and a bypass conveyorextending from said second discharge outlet of said ice chip makingmeans to said point of use, said bypass conveyor actuatable independentof said storage conveyor unloading means, horizontal discharge conveyorand distribution conveyor.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the overall system of the invention is bestdisclosed. An ice making means, generally indicated by the numeral 10,is contained within a building 12. The ice making means 10 may be of anytype of machine for producing flaked or chipped ice. Throughout thisdescription, the term chipped ice will be used, it being understood thatby this expression is meant any type of ilaked or chipped ice ofdiscrete sizes movable by conveyors as contrasted with the large blocksof ice customarily made in commercial ice plants.

The ice making machine 10 is provided with a first outlet 14A and asecond outlet 14B. By means within the ice making machine 10, the meansnot being shown, the ice manufactured in the machine may be dischargedeither through outlet 14A or 14B.

Positioned adjacent the ice making machine 10 is an upright cylindricalstorage silo 16. The typical storage silo 16 may be of the type utilizedfor storing silage or other agricultural products but modified in a wayto be described subsequently. The storage silo 16 is provided with anice intake opening 18 in the upper end and a central outlet opening 2i)in the bottom.

A storage conveyor 22 is positioned to receive ice discharged from thefirst outlet 14A of ice machine 10 and to carry the ice chips dischargedtherefrom to the intake opening 18 of the storage silo 16.

Positioned in the bottom of the storage silo 16 is an unloading meansgenerally indicated by the numeral' 24. The function of the unloadingmeans is to move chipped ice stored in storage silo 16 to the centralbottom outlet opening 20 as required. Basically the unloading means 24consists of an arm member 26 which is rotatably supported at its innerend 26A in the center of the central outlet 20. The arm 26 extendsparallel to and adjacent the bottom 28 of the storage silo 16, the outerend 26B terminating adjacent the tubular wall of the silo 16. The armmember 26 is swept in a circle abou the central outlet opening 20 tosubstantially sweep the entire bottom 28 of the storage silo 16.

Supported in a channel below the bottom 28 of the silo 16 is ahorizontal discharge conveyor 30 which moves chipped ice from the outletopening 20 to a point exterior of the silo. Receiving the chipped icedischarge from the horizontal discharge conveyor 30 is a distributionconveyor 32 which conveys the chipped ice to a point of usage, which inFIGURE l is illustrated by a building 34 in which food processing iscarried on. As illustrated, the chipped ice of the discharge conveyor 32is delivered to a chute 36 where it falls into a wagon 38 containingprocessed poultry or any other process material requiring icing.

An alternate arrangement of this basic system of the invention includesthe provision of a bypass conveyor 40. One end of the bypass conveyor 40is positioned to receive ice discharged through second outlet 14B of icemachine and to carry the chipped ice directly to the chute 36 forimmediate usage.

The ice storage system ydescribed has many advantages over any presentlyknown system. When ice is being utilized in the processing in building34 at the same rate it is manufactured by machine 10, the ice isdischarged from machine 10 through second outlet 14B directly onto thebypass conveyor 40 where it is fed directly to chute 36 for immediateusage. In this manner it is not necessary that the ice go through thestorage process. On the other hand, if ice is used at a rate faster thanmachine 10 is capable of manufacturing, then in addition to the icepassing through second outlet 14B and conveyor 40 to chute 36,additional ice may be utilized from the storage silo 16 by means of theunloading means 24 and distribution conveyor 32. If, through mechanicalfailure, the ice making machine 10 becomes inoperable, ice necessary forthe processing can continue as supplied from the stored ice taken fromthe storage silo 16.

In a typical operation, it is diflicult to size ice making machine 10 tohave capacity under all conditions to exactly satisfy the required rateof use in the processing operation. For this reason it is desirable tosize the ice making machine 10 to provide suflicient capacity for agiven work period (for instance, a given eight hour shift) for the i-cemaking machine 10 working for a longer period of time, even if suchperiod is on a full twentyfour hour basis. Thus, the ice making machine10 can continuously manufacture ice delivered through outlet 14A andstorage conveyor 22 into the silo 16. Ice can be utilized as requiredfrom the silo 16. In this way the total ice making capacity of themachine 10 is not as great and therefore a total necessary investment inice making equipment is reduced. At the same time, the effect ofmechanical failure of the ice making machine 10 is of less consequencesince a backlog of stored ice is provided in the silo 16.

Referring to FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, the operation of the storage silo 16and the unloading means 24 is best shown. Arm 26 is an elongated memberhaving a sprocket 42 (FIGURE 3) at the inner end centrally positionedover the outlet opening in the bottom 28 of the silo 16. The arm 26rotates about the center sprocket 42. At the same time a continuouschain 44 is provided which travels around the total periphery of the arm26. The chain is provided with spaced horizontally extended teeth 46which move chipped ice from the silo bottom 28 into the central outletopening 20.

In addition to the horizontally extending teeth 46, the chain 44 isprovided with a plurality of spaced elongated upwardly extending teeth48 (best shown in FIGURE 4). As has been previously indicated, storagesilos of substantially the same configuration as illustrated in thisdisclosure have been used for storing a great variety of materials, suchas grain, but none of these devices have been successfully utilized forstorage of chipped ice. It has been discovered that the reason suchpreviously contemplated use has not been successful is that the chippedice tends to pack and adhere together as it is stored. The

adhesion of the ice particles together tends to cause the ice to bridgenear the bottom so that it is not encountered by the arm 26 as it isrotated. It has been learned that elongated, upwardly extending lteeth38, of a length much longer than required for other types of materials,succeeded in continuously breaking up the adhered chips of ice, causingthem to fall to the bottom 28 of the silo where the chips of ice arethen easily swept into the outlet opening 20 by the horizontallyextending teeth 46.

An endless chain forms the horizontal discharge conveyor 30 to conveyice from the outlet opening 20 exteriorly of the silo where it fallsinto a sump 50 to be picked up by the distribution conveyor 32.

As illustrated in FIGURE 2, the preferred embodiment of the inventionrequires that the storage silo 16 be covered insulation 52. Theprovision of insulation 52 achieves two highly beneficial results.First, when the device is utilized in warm ambient temperatures,insulation 52 prevents excessive melting and adhesion of the storedchipped ice. Secondly, when the system is used in extremely cold ambienttemperatures, insulation 52 prevents excessive bridging of the icewithin the storage silo.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree ofpartieularity, it is manifest that many changes may be made in detailsof construction and the arrangement of components without `departingfrom the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

What is claimed is:

1. An ice making and storage system comprising in cornbination:

an ice chip making means having a lirst and a seco-nd selectabledischarge outlet;

an upright cylindrical storage silo adjacent said ice chip making means,said silo having an ice intake opening in the upper end and a centraloutlet opening in the bottom;

a storage conveyor extending from said first discharge outlet of saidice chip making means to the ice intake opening in said storage silo;

an unloading means in said storage silo to move chipped ice stored insaid silo to said central outlet opening;

a horizontal ydischarge conveyor beneath the bottom of said silo forconveying chipped ice from the central outlet opening;

a distribution conveyor for receiving chipped ice from said horizontaldischarge conveyor and conveying chipped ice to a point of use, saidunloading means, horizontal discharge conveyor and distribtuion conveyorbeing simultaneously actuatable independent of said ice chip makingmeans and said storage conveyor; and

a bypass conveyor extending from said second discharge outlet of saidice chip making means to said point of use, said bypass conveyoractuatable independent of said storage conveyor unloading means,horizontal discharge conveyor and distribution conveyor.

2. An ice making and storage system according to claim 1 wherein saidunloading means comprises:

an arm member rotatably supported at its inner end in the center of saidcentral outlet of said storage silo, said arm extending parallel to andadjacent the bottom of said storage silo, the outer end of said armterminating adjacent the tubular wall of said silo;

means to slowly rotate said arm to sweep substantially the total bottomsurface of said storage silo;

an endless conveyor chain supported on the peripheral surface of saidarm;

means of rotating said conveyor chain as said arm is rotated;

a plurality of yspaced horizontal teeth affixed to said chain andextending substantially parallel to the bottom surface of said silo; and

a plurality of elongated upwardly extending spaced teeth aflixed to saidchain, said teeth engaging and loosening chipped ice stored in said siloto cause the loosened chipped ice to fall to the silo bottom to be sweptinto said central outlet by said horizontal teeth.

3. An ice making and storage system comprising in combination:

an ice chip making means;

an upright cylindrical storage silo adjacent said ice -chip makingmeans, the silo having anice intake opening in the upper end and acentral outlet opening in the bottom;

a storage conveyor extending from said ice chip making means to the iceintake opening in .said `storage silo;

an arm member rotatably supported at its inner end in the center of saidcentral outlet of said storage silo, said arm extending parallel to andadjacent the bottom of said storage silo, the outer end of said armterminating adjacent the tubular wall of said silo;

means to slowly rotate .said arm to sweep substantially the total bottomsurface of said storage silo;

an endless conveyor chain supported on the peripheral surface of saidarm;

means of rotating said conveyor chain as said arm is rotated;

a plurality of spaced horizontal teeth aixed to said chain and extendingsubstantially parallel t-o the bottom surface o-f said silo;

a pluralty of elongated upwardly extending spaced teeth affixed to saidchain, said teeth engaging and loosening chipped ice stored in said silo-to cause the loosened chipped ice to fall to the silo bottom to beswept into said central outlet by said horizontal teeth;

a horizontal discharge conveyor beneath the bottom of said silo forconveying chipped ice from the central outlet opening; and

a distribution conveyor receiving chipped ice from said horizontaldischarge conveyor to a point of use, said arm member, horizontaldischarge conveyor and distribution conveyor being simultaneously-actuatable independent of the ice chip making means and the storageconveyor.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,247,575 11/1917 Pratt 62-32 2,222,024 11/1940 Field. 2,791,887 5/1957 Hennig 62-344X ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

W. E. WAYNER, Assistant Examiner.

3. AN ICE MAKING AND STORAGE SYSTEM COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: AN ICECHIP MAKING MEANS; AN UPRIGHT CYLINDRICAL STORAGE SILO ADJACENT SAID ICECHIP MAKING MEANS, THE SILO HAVING AN ICE INTAKE OPENING IN THE UPPEREND AND A CENTRAL OUTLET OPENING IN THE BOTTOM; A STORAGE CONVEYOREXTENDING FROM SAID ICE CHIP MAKING MEANS TO THE ICE INTAKE OPENING INSAID STORAGE SILO; AN ARM MEMBER ROTATABLY SUPPORTED AT ITS INNER END INTHE CENTER OF SAID CENTRAL OUTLET OF SAID STORAGE SILO, SAID ARMEXTENDING PARALLEL TO AND ADJACENT THE BOTTOM OF SAID STORAGE SILO, THEOUTER END OF SAID ARM TERMINATING ADJACENT THE TUBULAR WALL OF SAIDSILO; MEANS TO SLOWLY ROTATE SAID ARM TO SWEEP SUBSTANTIALLY THE TOTALBOTTOM SURFACE OF SAID STORAGE SILO; AN ENDLESS CONVEYOR CHAIN SUPPORTEDON THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF SAID ARM; MEANS OF ROTATING SAID CONVEYORCHAIN AS SAID ARM IS ROTATED; A PLURALITY OF SPACED HORIZONTAL TEETHAFFIXED TO SAID CHAIN AND EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE BOTTOMSURFACE OF SAID SILO; A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED UPWARDLY EXTENDING SPACEDTEETH AFFIXED TO SAID CHAIN, SAID TEETH ENGAGING AND LOOSENING CHIPPEDICE STORED IN SAID SILO TO CAUSE THE LOOSENED CHIPPED ICE TO FALL TO THESILO BOTTOM TO BE SWEPT INTO SAID CENTRAL OUTLET BY SAID HORIZONTALTEETH;